Emo Koalas 2
by raenbc
Summary: Sequal to Emo Koalas. They thought their troubles were over... but this is only the beginning. A story of struggles and sacrifice, starting from the day everything changed.
1. Numbness

8/27/09

Emo Koalas 2

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS**

Words from early in the day echoed in Nick's mind as he got ready for bed. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, not with the migraine he was giving himself.

"Precious, what's going on with you? You come here, freak me out, and then you don't tell me anything." "That's because I don't know anything, Nicholas. I'm sorry, but the doctors don't know what's wrong. I figured I'd tell you now, so you don't worry later."

He'd worry if she'd said she was feeling a little under the weather. Nick was way past worrying.

Even an hour after he was fully ready to go to bed, Nick was pacing the floor, staring at it the whole time. He could've melted the floor with the anger in his eyes. His brothers watched, silently, knowing he'd most likely snap if they said anything. Instead, he just started crying right in front of them.

"I don't understand." He said, every word under shuddering breaths. "We didn't even get… to spend time together." After that, he had no words left. No use complaining if he didn't what to complain about yet.

Joe and Kevin left the room, walking in separate directions. Kevin headed downstairs, but Joe walked out the door. It was drizzling out, but he hardly felt it. He felt numb. He couldn't think straight. All he wanted to do was see Stella. She would know how to calm him down. Especially since she felt like she owed it to him. She confessed that she thought she was the person who made him cry.

While that had been an embarrassing experience, being right in the middle of the school hallway, he never really thought about the reason. Everything was so overwhelming, it was hard to sort out. Regardless of all that happened, at that moment, all he could think about was Stella running through the park, and sitting at Precious's dining room table, and leading him out of the car, making him chase after her, for the single greatest moment of his life.

He wished he could relive those moments, but they were gone.

"I don't want to stay out of your personal life. I want to _be _your personal life!" Yet they kept flooding back in his memory. A memory. That's all those moments would ever be. That's what haunted him. That's what wouldn't leave him alone.

The teasing, taunting, torturing truth.

Kevin's phone rang in the dark, almost making him scream in surprise. Without even looking at the screen, he knew who it was. "Hi, Macy." He said, not sounding happy at all. He was trying to be as quiet at he could, basically hiding in the kitchen. "I can't sleep." She whispered in reply, near to tears. "I can't either." He told her.

"I know, that's why I called." She said honestly. Her breathing was shallow, since she was so tired. "What if I do fall asleep?" She asked him. "What if I end up at your house again?" Macy sounded like she was mad at herself when she said that.

Even knowing that by the tone in her voice, Kevin couldn't help but smile. He knew what to say to make he feel better. "I'll be here to open the door for you." He was holding the key Macy had used to get inside the first time. Just hearing his voice made her calm down, but there was only one thing she had to ask of him. "Stay on the line with me?"

"Okay." He answered sweetly. "But you're costing me minutes." He joked. "Hey, it's gonna cost me too." She replied, being serious. "Just until one of us falls asleep?" Macy pleaded.

"Sounds fair." Kevin said. "Goodnight." Macy sighed. She didn't feel like it was.

"Maybe If we treat it like one, we'll see a better morning."

**I'm so happy I'm writing this sequel. It gets better. I'll update soon, tell me what you think!**


	2. Reflections And Realizations

****

I DO NOT OWN JONAS.

The hope of a better morning coming died when everyone realized they had another day of the weekend to waste. Precious, worn out and annoyed, hit the snooze button on her alarm clock at 6:00. Went it went off again at 6:15, she shut it off completely.

_No seeing Nick today._ She couldn't even get up, so she knew that was true. She groaned in disgust and dismay at the thought. It was the doctor's visit that made her exhausted, that came from being so anxious to know what was going on with her. She hoped it was nothing too serious, and rolled over to try and fall back to sleep again.

There was only one person with her in the dream she had. The only person she wanted to see when she was feeling like she did. At first, she saw a chain of memories in front of her, but as expected, they were broken.

First, came the first time she saw him. A second later, she could hear his laughter as they stood at the gate at the park. The thoughts continued like this, scattered, until Precious realized something. Each time, there was this look in his eyes. A look of pure happiness, that she rarely got to see before they knew each other. That was just about the only thing that could put a smile on her face, since she knew she was dreaming. She truly made him happy.

As the dream progressed, it was just the two of them, with his house to themselves. It was quiet and peaceful, which they loved. They started out talking in the kitchen, and he seemed amazed at how deep she could be when she spoke. Later on, he played the drums and she watched. Now that was real amazement. He was unstoppable, not realizing he kept going for hours. She loved it because it was him, and his music had his heart and soul in it, regardless if he sang or not. So she sat and watched, letting the hours fly by.

Still, she knew it was only a dream.

* * *

"Got any sevens?" Joe put down his deck, and stared at Stella in disbelief. "Is this really what were doing on a Sunday afternoon, playing cards?" She shrugged, knowing that meant the game was over, and that she would never have that seven that she _knew _he had, even if he cards were facing down on the kitchen counter.

She walked around so she could sit next to him, rather than standing across from him and wishing the cramp in her leg would go away. "What would you rather do?" She asked, the pain and annoyance from that showing in her voice.

"Anything but go fish, please." He told her. They were the only two downstairs, but they felt like the only ones in the whole neighborhood, it was so quiet.

Somehow, whenever Frankie went somewhere, he managed to take his parents along with him, not the other way around. They were out at the food store, but with nothing to eat in the house, they were all hungry, so shopping was going to take a long time. Nick was still sleeping, even though it was passed noon and he hadn't even gotton up once. This made Joe and Stella worry, since that wasn't like him at all. He was probably having a better time in his dreams than he could while awake, and that made Joe jealous. He wished he could do that, just dream the day away.

Both Stella and Joe had absolutely no clue where Kevin had gone, just that he left at around 11:45 and said to call if they needed him for any reason.

After much hesitation, Joe let out a long sigh and said: "I'm so _bored_." Stella scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. Doing so, she elbowed him in the ribs by accident, since she was sitting right next to him. She didn't notice though, saying: "Oh, so I _bore_ you?" It seemed like every time he said something to her, she found away to turn it around.

"Do you just like fighting?" He asked her, watching her get up and start stomping back around the counter again. She wasn't listening. "I've got a game you can play," She answered angrily. "How about 52 pickup!" Joe watched her knock all the cards to the floor, in a laughing fit. "Very mature." He commented. He started picking up the cards, but each time he came up from kneeling, she would knock them out of his hand.

Every time she did this, her expression softened. By the fifth time, she was smiling brightly. "Wow, you're really bad at this game." She told him, looking at the cards on the floor. They both laughed at what they saw. Even though most of the cards scattered all over the place, a few bunched together, to form a heart.

* * *

Macy had been out for most of the morning, but came back at about 12:05. She had taken a walk through the neighborhood, slowly of course. She made sure to stay close to walls, he ankle sometimes bothered her too much to not use them. She crossed the floor in her kitchen, going for the fridge. She opened it, searching for something to drink. The cold air didn't bother her, even as it hit her right in the face, she needed something to cool her off. Too bad for her, there was nothing she could drink. Closing the refrigerator door, she considered settling for water from the tap.

There was a knock at the door. She wasn't expecting anyone, and she was home alone, so it made her jump, and she stumbled when that happened, because of her ankle. Cautiously, she came up to the front door, realizing there was nothing to fear. She would've ran the rest of the way, if that was possible.

She opened the door as calmly as she could, a beaming smile on her face. "Hi, Kevin!" She greeted. "Hey, Macy." He said happily. "I knew you'd be home." He thought about what he said and added. "Good thing too, because if you weren't, I'd have to head _all the way_ back home, and it's no fun there today." The whole time he was talking, she just stared, finding the things he just automatically knew to be almost scary, once again. He seemed to know what she was thinking, and when she needed him. Sadly, she thought that, maybe, that wasn't a constant thing.

"Oh, and, uh," He began, handing out something to her, "I know it's not really a present," He went on, while Macy looked inside the thermal bag he gave to her, "but, I brought you this in case you were… thirsty." Halfway through his sentence, he wondered if she would even appreciate him bringing her a pitcher of juice, it was a strange gift.

For a second, she almost looked mad at him. "How do you do it?" She asked. It was almost a demand. "We have a juice bar." He said simply, not taking her tone as a bad thing. Macy giggled. "Not that." He had no idea what she meant. "Then what are you talking about?" He asked, smiling at her while he tried to figure it out for himself.

As quickly as she could, Macy put the bag down on her counter and came right back to Kevin, hugging him tightly. Without knowing the reason, he hugged her back. She'd tell him why sooner or later, just like she told him how she got the key to his house, but that was a total accident, and a completely different story.

She didn't give him a reason right then, but she looked up into his eyes, getting lost in them. He got lost too, staring back. It was minutes later. Macy whispered to him.

"You always know. You always know."

**How was it? I had fun writing this chapter, and I'm really excited about writing more for both stories. I'll update soon!**


	3. The Atrium Channel

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS.**

The dismissal bell rang the following afternoon, and everyone was happy to be leaving school. Nick had tried to ignore the questioning looks he got from just about every one of his teachers, they all seemed to be wondering what was wrong with him, since he never raised his hand to answer a question once, or even look up from his desk. He wasn't the one with the problem, so what could he say to them? Nothing.

When he got to his locker to take out books, a note fell out. He smiled a bit, knowing who it was from. He read it to himself.

_Nicholas,  
Here's a question for you. How do feel about a Monday date? I've never had one, but I know that it will be fun with you. Where do you want to go? Just turn around and tell me, if you accept._

_Sincerely,  
Precious_

Just like she said, Precious was behind Nick when he turned around. Her hair was curled, and she was playing with it a little, nervous. He thought she looked beautiful, but all he could say was: "Sincerely?" "Well, we're not officially dating." She explained. He laughed. "Oh, I get it." She smiled at him, he smiled back, and they started walking together, to go find his brothers.

After he took about three steps, Nick stopped and ran back to his locker. Precious waited where she was, and he came back quickly. Forgot your books? She asked. "Maybe." He joked. "Nobody noticed right?" He looked serious when he said that, but Precious had to laugh. "People might've seen that your locker was wide open but the only one who knew about the books part would be me."

Nick scoffed at himself. You're not supposed to look like an idiot in front of the one you like." Precious nodded, smiling. "Yeah, but that usually winds up happening anyway." As she said this, Precious tripped over her own feet. Nick made sure she didn't fall, holding her up. When she had her footing back, he said: "Now we're even." They both laughed and continued on their way.

* * *

Kevin was on his way to the atrium, his daily walk extremely delayed because of the craziness of the day. Getting back into routine was difficult to do. Seeing Macy there waiting for him came as surprise, and she looked like she knew what he was thinking when he walked in.

"Admitting this is gonna be embarrassing, but I started coming her more often after I find out that's what _you_ do." That was the first thing out of her mouth. "How is that embarrassing?" He replied. "That's a compliment. You re welcome, then." She said as he sat down next to her, looking like he had a question to ask.

"Yes?" She asked after awhile, giving him a smile. "So, what was up with the whole 'dress and shoes' thing by the way? I have to know." "It's not obvious?" She answered, thinking it was. Kevin shook his head. "I still haven't figured it out."

"It's a fan outfit." Macy said, having to think of the right way to explain. She elaborated with: "You know. High heels, red dress..." "Yeah, okay." He could see why that made sense. "But is that really the only reason?" "No." She told him. "It was also to look pretty, sort of like I was going on a date." That sentence sounded more like a question to Kevin. In case he was wrong, he whispered his next question, sort of wishing he'd kept it in his head. "Did you just ask me out?"

Macy actually had to think about that one. What? No. I mean, I wasn't trying to but it's not like—" "Would you want to?" He asked, half excited and half scared out of his mind about her answer. He didn't even know what to consider Macy anymore. He hoped he had some clue on that when she replied, but, like always, she took her time in answering.

"Wait a second!" She yelled so out of nowhere, Kevin nearly had a heart attack. "What?!" He cleared his throat, remembering that he should be nice, especially if he wanted a date, which he hadn't figured out if he did or not. "I mean... okay." She laughed to herself, thinking about what she was going to say next.

"Isn't it your turn?" He looked just as confused as she did. "My turn to _what_?" Macy shrugged. "Well, I was just thinking: I told you my secret," She blushed before continuing, "then you gave me that... speech by the recording studio, and then I sang to you... so isn't it your turn?"

Kevin just kept giving her the same confused look. "Why do we have to do that, take turns in... _life_? Do we have to be perfectly even in everything?" Macy really didn't know. She thought that her random excuse was just a way of getting out of the conversation they were having, sort of like what happened when she had to tell her secret and tried to go to sleep to avoid that.

"Never mind." She told him, another great way of avoiding awkward conversations. He hated hearing those words, especially since in this case, it meant Macy wasn't going to _even_ _accidentally_ bring up the topic of possibly dating again, even if he hadn't made up his mind about that yet.

He couldn't just sit there in silence, leaving 'never mind' to be the last words in their conversation. He looked up at Macy, letting her know that, and she seemed sort of scared of whatever it was he was about to say...

* * *

Joe and Stella were walking the halls trying to find their friends. They thought about doing so hand-in-hand, but even if the everyone on Earth knew the obvious fact that they were a couple, made no difference. It was just too weird, and they were both tired of getting those 'I knew it' stares from classmates.

Even so, Stella had to ask what was on her mind. "Hey, Joe?" "Yeah?" He turned to her, even though they were right next to each other. "Are we going on a date any time soon?" He smiled. "Sure, but where?" Stella shrugged in reply. "We'll figure it out, I was just wondering."

Soon, they were walking past the atrium. "What do you think's going on in _there_?" Joe asked, seeing Kevin and Macy.

Stella could only figure out that Kevin was talking very fast, too fast for her to read his lips. Macy seemed to have no problem keeping up with what he was saying, except for one point where she stopped him to ask a question, a confused, sort of worried look on her face.

To that he asked another question, bluntly from what Joe and Stella could see, and Macy nodded, with a smile on her face. A smile that they had never seen before. Joe and Stella looked at each other then, confused and amazed.

At this point, Nick and Precious showed up. "Hey, guys." "Hey, Precious." They chorused in reply. "Hey, Nick." Stella added. Nick didn't mind that Joe didn't say anything to him, intently watching Kevin and Macy. Nick's eyes said 'hello' to the two spectators, but his voice said, in a calm but interested tone: "What's on the Atrium Channel today?"

"Atrium Channel." Precious repeated, under laughs. Stella and Joe laughed too. Nick shrugged. "Everyone's always stopping to watch, they must find this place very entertaining." Joe nodded, laughing again, and the four 'went back to the show'.

"Do you think they know we're watching them?" Stella whispered, seeing that Macy and Kevin had stopped talking, quite abruptly. The audience could see Kevin mouth the words 'They're watching us' to Macy, them both sharing a quick laugh afterward.

"Apparently." Precious said, putting an accent on the end of the word. Nick chuckled. Precious could be as quiet as him sometimes, but when she chose to speak, it was usually funny. Or amazingly deep.

Knowing that they were being watched, Macy turned to her four friends and waved, smiling. Kevin did the same. Before Kevin and Macy came outside, there was only one thing the four others could do.

Wave and smile back, truly happy, and dying to know what was going on...

**First day of school for me tomorrow, I'll update soon though. What did you think?**


	4. Lucky

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS**

The day wasn't over yet for Macy. She was standing on the sidelines of a field that was still wet from the rain the day before. She was in the middle of arguing with the coach, who wouldn't let her play since her ankle still hurt. "I'm fine." She told him. "It's just practice." Her coach nodded. "I know It's just practice, so I don't want you at risk to have a worse injury when there's a game, so sit this one out."

"But I won't get hurt worse, my ankle's almost fully healed." She tried to explain. "How did you do that anyway, Macy?" Macy blinked. What was she supposed to tell him? 'I was sleepwalking with one high-heeled shoe on in the pouring rain, and I fell while trying to reach the house of the guy I'd been accidentally stalking for a week'? It didn't sound like a good argument. It sounded like something that made _her_ sound crazy.

The coach sighed after she didn't answer. "Look, you're not gonna be able to play in this _or_ _worse_ condition. So, if you don't want to go home, then... go watch the cheerleaders practice!" He blurted out a random alternative, making a strange face at his own words. To his surprise, Macy was trying her best to hide a bright smile. "Okay." She said quietly, walking off.

After awhile, one of Macy's teammates came to the coach's side. "For a girl with a hurt ankle, she's sure moving quick." The coach nodded, confused. "What do you think that's about?"

* * *

"They've got a date _today_!" Joe yelled into his cell phone, from where he stood in his kitchen. That was the first thing he said after Stella picked up. She rolled her eyes. "What, are we... in competition with them?" Joe sighed. "No, but we have nothing to do. And Nick and Precious just decided to... leave us with nothing to do. I mean, it didn't even _cross_ _their_ _minds_ to ask us to double date with them?" "Obviously not. They probably want to be alone, Joseph."

"You're right." He said. "But what are _we_ gonna do?" Stella shrugged, even though he couldn't see that. "We could go out to eat." She suggested. "Yeah." He agreed. "But we should probably take Kevin with us." "Oh, I know." Stella said. "The poor guy's got nobody."

Joe laughed out of nervousness. "When you put it that way, it's depressing." "The truth hurts." Stella answered, mad at herself for that. Joe didn't argue, but felt sort of guilty for agreeing with what she said. "I'll go find him and ask if he wants to go." Joe told her after hesitation. "I guess we'll go to Friday's." He said with a smile.

"It's Monday." Stella reminded him, not sounding amused. "Potato skins!" That was his only argument. She had to laugh. "_Alright_." She groaned. "You're lucky I love you." "Yes I _am_." Joe replied. "I love you too, bye." "Bye." She said right before Joe hung up the phone, running upstairs to find Kevin.

* * *

"You know how there's always those icons about people in love taking over the world together?" Precious whispered to Nick in the eerily quiet movie theater. "Yeah?" Nick whispered back, not noticing she was half-way hiding behind her popcorn container. "I... always thought... you'd make a... great ruler." She told him between startled gasps.

Nick laughed sweetly at her comment, but had to correct her. "Precious, I don't want to rule. I want to _lead_." She smiled while trying to keep the popcorn from spilling while she jumped. "Even better." Nick saw that she had her eyes closed tightly then, and reached for her hand.

When she took it, she realized he was shaking. "You're scared, Nick?" She asked him. He took a deep breath before answering. "The creepy music is gonna give me nightmares." He explained. She had to smile at him in the darkness, because she felt safe with him.

Precious held his hand tighter and leaned into his shoulder a bit. She was so lost in her happiness, she didn't even hear Nick whisper the rest of his reply. "That's not the only thing that's got me terrified."

"Chew with your mouth _closed_." Stella instructed to Joe, giving him a look. "I am!" He argued. "It's just, for _some_ reason, you decide to ask me a question _only_ when my mouth is full." He said, looking at Kevin to back him up. He seemed to be distracted by something, so Joe took another bite of his dinner. "Are you gonna stop?" Stella asked him. "I—" "Joe!" "What! It's your fault this keeps happening." He said after he swallowed, taking another bite, this one fairly big.

"It is _not_!" Stella replied. "Right?" She asked. Joe rolled his eyes, continuing to chew. "An answer would be nice." She told him. Joe swallowed the food he had in his mouth, nearly choking on it. "Eating my dinner in peace would be nice." He told her. "Do you just _enjoy_ torturing me?" Stella didn't answer him, keeping a straight face, but Joe caught on.

"You're doing this on purpose." She still didn't speak, or even move. "You're doing this on purpose!" He repeated. Stella smiled. "So?" "So?! So _why_?" "To prove a point." She told him. "You put up with it, you must really love me." She just loved to say that, he could tell. "I get it." Joe said. "I love you, you love me." Stella burst out laughing at that one.

"How old are you now?" Kevin asked from where he sat next to Joe, sounding completely monotone. "Hey! That song is dramatic!" Joe argued to him and Stella, who was still cracking up. "It is." Kevin agreed. "But the way you said that—" Stella added, not able to finish. She was still having a laughing fit and Joe wasn't sure it would ever stop. He found himself laughing at her laughter.

Kevin paid no attention. He would have laughed too if he wasn't so hypnotized by what he saw. It took him awhile to realize who he was watching fixing dinner for herself at a table in the back of the restaurant, all alone. She took her time putting everything exactly the way she wanted it, humming a tune to herself as she sat. He walked over to say hello.

"I guess you're stuck in stalker mode, huh?" Macy's eyes lit up at the sound of his voice, and she got up and turned around to face him. "Kevin! I haven't seen you in—" "Three hours!" He finished for her. They both laughed.

"All of a sudden I lost my appetite." She told him, knowing that he was done with his dinner. Kevin smiled. "All of a sudden?" He asked. _You_ _coming_ _over_ _here_ _was_ _pretty_ _sudden_. Macy thought. She nodded. "I'll get this wrapped." She told him, pointing to her plate.

* * *

"Are you ever gonna stop laughing?" Joe asked Stella, looking at her red face. She shook her head, unable to speak. His face was red too, and they both had tears in their eyes. "Is this even about the Barney thing anymore?" He asked, trying to calm down. Stella was still roaring with laughter when she answered. "No! You're just so cute!"

It was impossible for Stella to tell that Joe blushed at that, but he did. As her laughter died down, she took deep breaths to in order to collect herself, as did he. They just stared at each other for awhile, in total silence. They didn't even notice that they were both leaning in over the table, completely forgetting everyone around them. Their moment was broken when something hit Joe in the side of the face.

It didn't hurt, but it was totally random. "What was that?" Stella asked him, completely calm at that point. "It s a $20." Joe replied, raising his eyebrows. "For what?" Stella asked him, just as confused. "I'm guessing Kevin's part of the bill." He told her, looking it over. When she saw, she nodded in agreement, and then gave Joe a concerned look. "Where is... Kevin?"

Her question floated in the air while Joe looked around, trying to answer it for himself. "I can tell you one thing." He replied, getting up.

"He's not here."

**I don't own Barney either :) Thanks for reading, what did you think? I know the show pretty much dropped the whole 'Kevin the cheerleader' concept, but I thought it was cool, so I put it in here... the jock and the cheerleader? Only on JONAS. At least, only on JONAS where it's interesting, and different. I'll update soon! **


	5. Walking Home And Weeks Later

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS. This is another chapter dedicated to Precious, epecially because the key part of the plot was her idea.**

"So, were you following me or is this just a coincidence that you felt like eating here tonight?" Kevin pointed behind him as he asked that question, at the restaurant he and Macy had just left. She shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call it following. It's just that Stella tells me everything and when she said that she was taking you along on her date with Joe, I just figured they'd be all lovey-dovey and _you'd _be miserable."

Kevin paused before he answered. "Thanks." He said, not sure if he meant it after what she said to him. Macy stopped walking then, so Kevin had to stop too, once he noticed. "The only reason I thought that is because that's how I felt." She said quietly, her hands in her pockets. He finally understood. "Oh, well… don't. I'm here for you." He shrugged a bit after he told her that, not know if it meant much.

Macy put on a beaming smile. "Thank you." She said. He blushed, remembering those words had a lot more meaning than most people considered. "You're very welcome." He told her, and they walked on in the direction of her house. After a few seconds of silence, Kevin asked another question, sounding like he wouldn't believe it if she answered yes. "You came all the way here just for me?"

"You say 'all the way here' like it's a thousand miles." "It is when you're on a bad ankle." He pointed out. Macy groaned. "You're starting to sound like all my coaches, Kevin."

He sighed. "I'm not trying to but, like I said: It's my job to look out for you." Macy laughed at that, she had heard it so many times. "_I _should be looking out for _you_." She told him. Once again, she told herself how unfair it was that Kevin did so much for her and she didn't know how to repay him. "You are." He said. "Just by being here." Macy stopped, realizing something, and because of that she hadn't really heard what he said.

"Why are we headed to my house?" "I'm not going to let you walk home in the dark." "Why?" She asked, laughing. "Afraid I'll fall asleep on the way and end up at your house again?" Kevin looked at her seriously, for many reasons, but all he said was: "The sleepwalking thing is over. It's not going to happen again." Macy shrugged. "How can you be so sure?"

"You said you only sleepwalk when you have a secret no one knows." He reminded her. "I know your secret, you know my secret, and now we have _our _secret." Macy got quiet. "Actually, you never told me your secret." Kevin sighed a second time, whispering. "My point is, you're not going to sleepwalk anymore, so don't worry about it."

* * *

"Oh, _look who's home_." Joe said, over-acting with every word when he answered the door, arms crossed. Stella appeared at his side then. "Tell me, Joe. Is it the guy who threw a $20 bill at your face and then scrambled on us?" Joe was about to answer her question, but he had one of his own first.

"Scrambled?" He repeated. "It's slang." She explained. "Since when?" Both brothers asked. "Where have you _been_?" Was her reply. "_Anyway_." Joe said, remembering his point. "Where did you go?" Kevin blinked at that question. "Here." He said, pointing down. Stella scoffed. "Then how come we beat you here?" Kevin shrugged, almost aggravated. "Don't ask me why _you_ do what you do."

"Liar." Joe accused, as his older brother walked past him and came into the house. "What?" Both Kevin and Stella were confused by that, since Kevin hadn't given an answer to the question, so it couldn't be called a lie. "Liar!" Was Joe's only response. He managed to say that more times in one breath than the two of them could've imagined.

Finally, Kevin got so annoyed by it that he just walked upstairs, not saying anything. As soon as he was gone, Joe turned to Stella. "He's hiding something from us." Stella nodded. "Question is, what is it?"

* * *

Weeks went by. Nothing much had changed, except for the fact that Precious cancelled her latest Monday date with Nick. When asked why, all she said was that she had something else to do, and was saved by the bell from elaborating.

Macy's ankle was back to normal, but all her teammates questioned what happened to her right foot. She told them the truth, she stepped in glass, but she never said that Kevin was the one who took it out for her, or _anything_ about what they both went through. Nobody besides the two of them knew what happened that night, and no one else knew about her sleepwalking problem.

Joe and Stella still hadn't figured out what was going on with Kevin, he just kept disappearing on them. Joe would question him about that, only to have another question given as reply each time. He gave up trying to solve the mystery after awhile.

Stella would ask Macy why she still had the same pitcher of juice in her fridge, every time she went over her house. "I don't know." She answered. "I guess I'm just trying to savor it 'til the last drop." Stella didn't understand that. "Why? You could always make more." After drinking a small glass of it, she asked Macy, "What _did_ you use to make this, anyway?"

Macy looked up at her, answering simply. "Fruit." Stella laughed off her annoyance and put her empty glass in the sink. Then she turned around, leaning on the counter. "You know what's weird?" "No, what?" "I can't find the key I have to the fire house." Macy froze. She had completely forgotten about that. "Kevin." She whispered automatically, since that's who had it. Only she didn't know she had done that, until Stella repeated it.

"Kevin? What does he have to do with it?" Before she could think of an answer, there was a knock at Macy's back door. Stella gave her a strange look when that happened. "Who would be knocking on your _back_ _door_?" Macy shrugged innocently, even though she had a hunch, walking down the hall to see.

She ripped the door open in anger, something that happened quite easily when the person standing in the doorway was involved. "You picked a _great time _to show up." She whispered harshly. "I'm guessing that means Stella's here?"

Macy stepped outside quickly, closing the door behind her. "Sorry for yelling at you." She told him. He shrugged. "You whispered." She smiled, but then remembered why she came out there in the first place. "Wait a second, what are you doing here?" "You don't want to see me?" He teased. "I didn't say that! I just need to know… and quickly." She added, hearing footsteps approach.

Kevin heard them too, and frantically gave Macy what he had in his hand. "I remembered that I _forgot _to give this back to you." He said quickly, running to get back home. Macy giggled, waving as he went. He waved back and was off. Breathing a sigh of relief, Macy went back inside.

"Who was that?" Stella asked, right after the door closed. She had just gotten there, and was staring Macy down with her hands on her hips. Macy ignored the question, putting on a smile for cover. "You will never guess what I just found." She handed Stella her key, and walked toward the kitchen again. Stella put her hands up in frustration, tired of being ignored, and accidentally dropped the key. She called after Macy. "Yeah, but _who was that_?!"

* * *

Kevin came home all out of breath. While he was leaving Macy's house, Stella turned her head in the middle of walking. He still had no idea how she missed seeing him in broad daylight. "Where've _you _been?" Nick asked from is spot next to Precious on the couch.

He sounded happy but concerned. "Out." Kevin replied. Precious laughed at that. "He's turning into you, Nick." He chuckled in reply, but didn't exactly agree with what she said. "That's impossible."

Joe dialed Stella's cell number as soon as he heard Kevin's voice downstairs. The line was busy, so he hung up. Seconds later, the phone rang. "Did you just try to call me?" Stella asked. "Yeah, how'd you know?" "I just tried to call you." She answered. "That explains the busy signal." Stella sighed, wondering what she was going to tell him.

"There's something weird going on." Joe said. That was obvious. Stella thought about her reply for a pretty long time.

Meanwhile, Precious and Nick were the only ones left downstairs, since Kevin came upstairs and Joe had to hide in the bathroom so he could talk in private. Precious sat quietly, shifting her feet around in nervousness. "Did I ever tell you I was sorry for canceling our date?"

He turned to her. "You don't have to." Then he had a thought that scared him almost too much to be asked. "Everything's okay, right?"

* * *

"I don't know what's going on, but I think Kevin was just over here." "Why?" Joe asked, having to keep his sentences short in case his brother overheard. I just figured since he wasn't at your house and he _just_ came back…." Stella groaned. "This is so frustrating. Macy won't answer my questions, I've never been more confused in my life." Joe raised his eyebrows. _Welcome to my world._

* * *

Precious stared deep into Nick's eyes, lowing her tone to a calm, serious, loving whisper. "Everything's fine, I've never been happier." Nick smiled, mesmerized by the look in her eyes. "Neither have I." He replied.

Before leaning in for a kiss, Nick put some loose stands of her hair behind her ear. Precious automatically kissed back, and he couldn't tell that she was panicked about something. Especially since she put more passion into it than he could've ever expected, wrapping her arms around his neck. I gave him chills, but it was perfect.

They stayed how they were, blissfully happy, feeling like the only two people in the universe, until they were running out of breath. Precious didn't want Nick to pull away, even though they were basically on the verge of suffocating. He understood, because he felt the same way, but finally he had to, gasping and crying tears of joy in his amazement.

She was doing the same thing. "I love you." He barely managed the words, still breathing so heavily and letting his tears fall, smiling brighter than anyone had ever seen. Before Precious could answer him, obviously wanting to say the same thing, he looked down at his hands, trying to figure out if the kiss had really happened.

He would have a much easier time believing that then what he found when he looked down. Precious's eyes were at the ground when she heard him gasp under his breath. Tears flooded his eyes then for a different reason, and his hands shook violently in reaction to what he saw.

In between each of his now pale fingers, were at least four strands of her beautiful hair…

**Thanks for reading! I'm so happy that I got this uploaded, how was it? I already started typing a chapter for The Magic Of Mortals, so that should be up soon too. **


	6. Almost Unbearable

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS**

A warped, blood-curdling cry from downstairs made Joe drop his phone. Nearly breathless, he stumbled to pick it up, and heard gasping on the other line. Stella was recovering from a scream. "What _was_ that?" She stammered, panicked. Joe opened the bathroom door, pausing in shock. He saw that Kevin was nowhere in sight, he had already gotten downstairs by that point. Stuttering, Joe could only manage one word in response to Stella's question: "Nick."

Seconds later, Stella knew, Joe was downstairs. She had been standing at Macy's back door, and ran to the kitchen to find her no longer there. "Macy's gone!" She told Joe, when she realized she was all alone in the house. Joe didn't answer. He could barley breathe. He had just found his younger brother lying in the middle of the floor.

Precious had backed away to a wall, shocked and shaking, too afraid to go near him. Kevin slowly approached, knowing he was going to regret that. He held out a hand to his younger brother. Nick just stared at it, the look in his eyes anything but normal, almost emotionless. When Kevin tried to pick Nick up off the floor, he scratched his arm violently, tearing skin down to his hand. Nick was too detached to realize he had his older brother's blood under his nails. He was choking on his own breath, too stunned to choke out an apology for what he hadn't even realized he d done.

Nick's sharp shallow breathing was the only sound heard in the firehouse for an agonizing half a minute. Silent tears fell from his eyes as he stayed there on the floor, staring at his shaking hands.

Joe put a comforting hand on Precious's shoulder. She jumped, even though it was a light touch, being so distracted by what she was watching. Despite what had just happened, Kevin was still going to try and calm Nick down. "Don't." Joe warned, sensing that. "We have to do something." Kevin argued, staying as quiet as possible. "We don t even know why he's—" Joe was cut off when Precious abruptly turned in his direction, a guilty sort of look in her eyes. He understood what that meant completely, and shut up.

"What can we do?" She whispered, hopeless. Kevin reached for Nick's hands again, getting a set of scratches on the other arm, to matched the first. This time Nick scratched harder.

Kevin still didn't scream. Instead, he just told Joe: "He doesn't even know what he's doing." Sadness showed in his voice. "He doesn't even think this is real." Joe added. Kevin looked up a the front door, just as it opened.

Macy walked in very slowly, not knowing whether to be more horrified about how she found Nick or what happened to Kevin. He tried to calmly cross his arms, so she wouldn't worry. His cuts stung. He ignored the pain.

Nick couldn't swallow anymore, which only made matters worse. Slowly, he rolled himself over, not wanting to see that world that spun around him. The others gasped at the sight, he fell limp... face down.

He's going to suffocate like that! Joe screamed, looking at his brother for help. They held a conversation with their eyes, and the girls exchanged worried glances.

Joe and Kevin dropped to their knees and picked Nick up by themselves. His automatic reaction was to try and fight them off. He scratched, slapped, pushed, punched and kicked, fighting for a life he thought he'd already lost. A life that wasn't even his own.

Precious and Macy were horrified, Nick's brothers were just relieved to have him off the floor, but they were afraid to put him down even if he hadn't stopped fighting. They knew he was shocked, everyone was, but they didn t understand why he kept trying to hurt them.

His abnormal breathing wasn't making the situation any better. Nick sounded like he was drowning in his own air. Both his brothers now had scratches across their faces, but they wouldn't let go of him. At least off the ground he was safe from hurting himself. This way, they figured things couldn't get any worse... until Nick spoke, in a voice that didn t even sound like his own.

"Leave me!" He stammered, fighting to try and make his brothers put him down. "Leave me!" He begged again, scaring everyone in the room. Precious was too shocked to move, and Macy didn t know what to do. Nick was looking directly at his brothers while they refused to put him down, but the look on his face told them that he was still distant, and at that point the knew than they did. His brothers were bruised and bleeding, but Nick was the one in the most pain.

Kevin was horrified when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Macy approaching. She seemed sure about whatever she was doing. Joe noticed she was coming closer too but, like Kevin, couldn't say anything while trying to hold Nick up without getting clocked in the face every five seconds.

Precious was just as distant as Nick in her state of shock, standing with her back on the wall, completely still. Nick had stopped pleading to be put down, and was now just crying while he tried to scream. He had hardly any energy left. His face was red and his angry tears nearly burned his skin. Macy had walked past the three brothers, took Precious by the hand, and was bringing her to face Nick.

Unable to speak, all Precious wanted to do was argue. She loved Nick, they all knew that, but he was in such bad condition. It was dangerous for him to see the person he feared for the most at the moment, right in front of his confusion-filled eyes.

Still, Macy stayed with her plan, and slowly pulled Precious to where she felt she needed to be. As soon as she was in Nick's view, he stopped flailing and fighting. He stared at her. Sadness took over the confusion in his eyes. "It's not fair." He whispered, looking directly at her. "It's just not fair." He paused for a second, calming a little, but still shaken by what he knew.

"When it's me, I can handle it." He told Precious, making silence fall everywhere else. "But when it's someone else, someone I care about... it's almost unbearable. His brothers finally felt it was safe to put him down. When they did, he got another shock to his system, realizing how much he'd hurt them.

Blood was still dripping. Nick buried his face in his hands, ashamed.

**I've written more, I'll type it up soon. How was that?**

.


	7. Payback

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS. Finally, a new chapter. It's short but I've written more. Please review!**

Stella had gotten to the firehouse in time to see Kevin and Joe in their injured condition, Nick sitting on the couch, crying into his hands while Precious rubbed his back to try and make him feel better, and Macy leaning on the wall by the door, completely silent.

* * *

"What happened?" She asked, looking at Joe where he sat, next to the sink in the kitchen. Nick had calmed down completely and was walking Precious home. Everyone was still worried for the both of them, to say the least. "He just snapped." Joe replied, watching Stella take a dish towel and run it under water. "I would've done the same thing if I found out _that_ was happening to you." He said quietly. Stella looked him directly in the eye, skeptical and silently scolding him.

"Maybe not." He decided, wincing since the cuts near his lips burned when they bled. He was almost afraid to speak because of the pain. He'd have to put singing on hold for awhile. Stella noticed he was hurting and started wiping his face with the towel. The white fabric slowly began to turn a disturbing shade of faded red, and Stella ignored her disgust. She reached up to clean the scratches near Joe's eyes, seeing where Nick s nails had left deep impressions. "I just hope he doesn t beat _himself_ up over this." Joe told her, having the towel block his vision for a second, while she cleaned his bloody nose. The sad expression on her face was the first thing he saw after that. She barely looked at him when she whispered her reply. "He's already done that."

* * *

Kevin looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. His cheek was bruised, his lips were swelling, and every scratch on him still dripped blood. None of these things hurt worse than his head and his heart, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again, and unable to understand how something like this could ve even happened. He looked at his bruised hands, wondering what to clean first. Being alone at a time like this had him really depressed. A knock on the door told him someone knew that. He would've ran for it, if he had the strength.

"Payback time." Macy announced quietly. His aching face fell in reply; he didn't like the sound of that, even if she had said those words in a sweet tone. "What do you mean?" In response, she walked in and told Kevin to find a place to sit. He complied, reluctantly, confused about what she was doing. Naturally, he chose the counter of the sink as his sitting place. The sound of running water almost had him smiling.

"You're going to clean my blood?" He asked, completely astonished. Macy nodded simply, not understanding why he thought that was so amazing. She started with the scratches on his arms, being very slow and careful. She kept him eyes on him though, needing to make a point. "You did it for me." She whispered, while he watched, almost hypnotized. She seemed to have no fear seeing all that blood, and Kevin couldn't help but question why. He didn t ask for this, she made the choice to do what she was doing all on her own. To him, it was nothing like when he helped her, because that was needed. He decided to tell her what he was thinking. "But I had to. If I didn't do anything to help you—" "I would've died." She said bluntly.

Kevin gulped, feeling shot down by the seriousness used in her tone. Macy rinsed the washcloth thoroughly and then moved onto his face. He winced when she brushed against his bruised cheek. Even while looking right at him, she didn t notice the look on his face, in reaction to what she had said.

How can you _stand_ looking at this?" The boys asked the girls as they continued cleaning their cuts, wordless most of the time. Downstairs and upstairs, different shades of brown eyes blinked. The answer was simple. "I can't." The sinks were now stained red. The boys stared, disgusted at the thought that they were looking at their own blood that their brother made spill. The girls turned away, with one last thing to say.

"But you've done so much for me... and I don't want to have to look at this mess anymore."


	8. Taking Blame And Hiding Shame

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS**

The ten second stare down that happened after their parents came home and sent Frankie right to his room, was the most uncomfortable moment of Kevin and Joe's lives. "Start talking." Tom demanded, since they both just stared blankly back at him, from where they sat on opposite sides of the couch. Kevin swallowed a sigh of sadness and opened his mouth to speak. Before he had a chance to, Joe shoved the words right back down his throat and then said some of his own. "I threw the first punch." He said loudly, sounding very serious.

Kevin's heart nearly stopped. What had they gotten themselves into? Tom waited for them to say more, and Sandy returned, an equally angry expression on her face. "What was this fight _about_?!" She asked them, after seconds of them sitting in silence went by. Joe considered keeping his mouth shut, but a thought that wouldn't go away didn't let that happen. A pain equal to the one he was feeling of Nick's current state spoke for him.

"He's hiding something from me…" Kevin had to fight to keep his eyes from widening. A chill went down his spine as his parents glared, speechless. He looked at the two of them as if he was disappointed, and finally spoke. "Listen. It doesn't matter anymore. It's over now. Nothing's ever as bad as it seems." "No." Sandy agreed. Her tone was sharp and her soul seemed shattered. "Sometimes it's worse."

She looked at her husband, feeling hopeless. He still had the strength to speak, the anger he felt was the only way he could manage his words. Without it, sadness would have left him silent. "Stay away from each other." He ordered. "It's going to be awhile until you two have lives again, _ESPECIALLY _famous ones! If word about this finds its way to print… the band is _over_."

He was about to leave them with those words, but turned around realizing he forgot something. "Apologize." He said. His sons looked at each other before turning their heads back to face him. There was no possible way for them to sound more honest when saying "I'm sorry." at the same time.

Tom walked away then, mumbling to himself sadly. "I never thought this would happen." Neither did they.

Kevin ascended the stairs, and Joe walked out the front door, without a word. Sandy still stood where she was, arms crossed and head down.

The bathroom door opened up when Kevin reached the top of the steps. "Why would you lie?" Stella whispered, coming up to him after leaving her hiding place. Her eyes were glazed over with tears, she'd heard everything.

"He thinks we'll never forgive him." Kevin whispered back. He was talking about Nick, and she knew he would be before he even opened his mouth. "Why should we look so innocent?" In answer, Stella pulled him into a hug. Macy watched from the doorway, thinking her heroes sure knew how to make her feel like crying. Everyone was trying to be strong.

Downstairs, the front door opened. Nick hadn't passed Joe on the way home. Not only had they been going in different directions, Joe would've been running too face to notice or be noticed if they hadn't. Sandy turned her head in his direction. He froze when he saw she was standing in the place where he'd been lying face down. She wiped her eyes and spoke slow. "Do you know what's going on?" Her words stayed in the air for the time it took him to absorb the shock. He almost glared at her, putting his hands in his pockets. "I don't think _you_ have any idea." He whispered.

"I might." The two words broke the silence between them. It was Frankie, and he only came out of his room to give Nick a half threatening, half sympathetic stare before turning right around to walk back.

**I know this was short, but there's more to come Please review!**


	9. Advice

**I DO NOT OWN JONAS**

The day dragged on, no one talked the entire time. When nighttime came, Nick stayed down in the living room after everyone went to bed. He watched Stella and Macy sneak out, each giving a sad, silent wave to him when they left, with sorrowful looks in their eyes. He didn't have the energy to wave back, and he couldn't bring himself to move off the couch. Tom trusted his eldest sons not to kill each other if they stayed in their room, he still didn't know the truth about what happened.

Nick was going to keep his distance, unable to look his brothers in the face. He stared at the floor, trying to force himself to stop thinking about all that had gone on, but that was impossible. "I know it was you."

Nick looked up at the sound of Frankie's voice, stunned by what he heard. He saw eyes that were full of hatred and pity at the same time. Frankie went on, despite how difficult it was for him to talk the way he felt. "When you came in, you put your hands in your pockets." Nick nodded slowly, still ashamed at that too. After what he'd done, hiding it was literally insult to injury. He didn't mean to do that either, he just panicked, like before.

He put his hands up so Frankie could see that he was right. "Do you know why?" Nick whispered in his quivering voice, not needing to state his question any clearer. His little brother knew exactly what he meant. "You found out what's wrong." Frankie answered bluntly, amazed he could sound the way he knew he did.

Nick shuddered as he tried to explain the reason for his actions. "There were _twenty_ strands of hair between my fingers," He said, forgetting that he might be scaring his brother, even though he didn't want to. "there's only one thought that went through my mind."

Frankie seemed almost emotionless when he spoke. "You wanted to die." It wasn't a question, and it made Nick feel like all the blood in his body just froze. "You think she's going to…" Frankie's voice trailed off when he saw that all Nick could manage to do was put a pale hand up to try and get him to stop talking. He was only making things worse.

To Nick, Frankie seemed proud of himself for being so smart, which scared him in a situation like this, but that wasn't the case. He was the furthest thing from proud. "Why do you even want to be right about this?" Nick asked, thinking out loud, the thought being one that was haunting him.

"I don't." Frankie admitted. "But think about it. With what's going on right now, Precious needs you to be strong for her. I don't think that should be difficult for you since you're the strongest person I know." It's not that Nick missed the compliment Frankie gave him, but what he said raised also a question. "Notice how when it comes to her, I don't exactly think before I act?" Nick said, almost trying to laugh about it, but it was too soon. It was true, that always happened, but this time, it was because he was in so much shock.

Frankie had some advice to give. "Next time stuff gets bad, just think about all the people who love you, and anyone who has ever done something nice for you, or because of you. Then count again, because you probably missed some."

Amazed, Nick pondered that statement. The more he thought about it, the higher the count got. A small smile appeared on his face. "So, what happened to the 'Why not me' attitude?" Frankie asked, after watching his brother just sit there, thinking. "It's back." Nick said simply. He figured there was no way it couldn't be, seeing Frankie's point.

"Good." Frankie replied. He walked away smiling after saying this: "Lead us in the right direction."

Even knowing his brother was right, Nick still couldn't face anyone after what he'd done. He stayed downstairs, isolated, trying not to think about anything while lying on the couch staring up at the ceiling. Soon it got blurry, his eyes felt heavy, and he was drowsy, but he stayed awake, overcome by a fear that guilt might eat away at him in the nightmares that were sure to come if he didn't.

**Please review, I'll update as soon as I can!**

.


	10. UPDATE, PLEASE READ!

Do you guys like this story? It seems like everyone stopped reading once it took a turn toward violence. I'm asking because I miss JONAS since it's in between seasons and I want to write a new story!

I'm not sure what to call it, which is one of the reasons why I need your help. I got the idea because I wanted to write a comedic drama but include the minor characters from JONAS and some new ones as well. Does it sound good? Please review and tell me! :) 


End file.
